Palaios 2008 Book Review PALAIOS DOI: 10.2110/Palo.2008.BR40 Emphasizing the Impact of Life on Earth’S History

Palaios 2008 Book Review PALAIOS DOI: 10.2110/palo.2008.BR40 Emphasizing the impact of life on Earth’s history

Glossary of Geology, 5th ed., edited by Klaus K. E. Neuendorf, James P. Mehl, Jr., and Julia A. Jackson, 2005, American Geological Institute, Alexandria, Virginia, hardback, 779 pages, USD 99.95; Member Society Price, including SEPM, USD 79.95, ISBN 0-922152-76-4.

It’s 2008, and I’m always connected to the internet. I can absent are Seilacher’s behavioral classification terms (Repichnia, access information on any conceivable topic simply by typ- Dominichnia) that now appear frequently in most introductory ing it into a search engine. I can read the full text of tens of ichnology texts. With ichnology’s increasing importance as a thousands of peer-reviewed articles through GeoRef and my subdiscipline of both sedimentary geology and paleontology, library’s subscription to online databases. I don’t remember the usage of these terms will likely only expand in the future. last time I opened an actual dictionary or encyclopedia made of Although the specialized terminology of trace fossils may paper. So, do I really need an ~800 page, 6 pound, hardcover need augmenting, other disciplines appear to be well represented, Glossary of Geology taking up space on a bookshelf already and missing words are the exception rather than the norm. crowded with leftover undergraduate textbooks that I haven’t Definitions are also very thorough—the definition of facies, for referenced in years? example, differentiates among the eight different meanings of The answer is a resounding “Yes”! The fifth edition of the word. AGI’s Glossary of Geology is one of the most comprehensive An issue inherent in all dictionaries is the lack of il- geological dictionaries ever published. Try Googling words like lustrations; in order to be all-inclusive, editors do not leave Georgeeriksenite or syn-thanatope and coming up with anything, much room for visual representations. Many terms that require much less a definition relevant to earth science, from a reliable a lengthy description could be explained succinctly in a single source. This is the primary advantage of the Glossary—its figure. This is where the technological advancements made authority and completeness lie in the participation and review possible by the internet have the power to render hard copies of of over 100 professional geoscientists, in all subdisciplines of publications obsolete. If the print version of the Glossary were geology, and in the more than 2400 supporting references. In fully illustrated, it would need its own library. Online, however, the age of Wikipedia, having an all-inclusive, reputable source space is not an issue, and an illustrated, online index of the terms of information is a necessity, now more than ever. Those who contained in the Glossary would set a new standard for general are too lazy to pull it off the shelf can still rejoice, however; a geology references. Unfortunately, such a thing does not yet purchase of the Glossary comes with a 6-month complimentary exist. The Encyclopedia of Geology (http://www.encyclopedi- subscription to the even more up-to-date Glossary Online. aofgeology.com), published in 2004, is a good start, but contains Since its inception in 1972, AGI’s Glossary of Geology has a mere 350 entries. Perhaps the Glossary should consider moving increased by 7000 its total number of entries. More than 3600 in this direction in the future. definitions have been added since the fourth edition in 1997, Despite these limitations, the Glossary of Geology is still and over 13,000 entries have been updated. Although every relevant in its current form. Having an easily accessible, physical new edition of the Glossary drops a number of obsolete terms, reference not dependent on electronics or internet connectivity many archaic and little-used words can still be found in the cur- is still an advantage. The scope of the Glossary makes it equally rent printing. This is actually an advantage to the reader—the useful to the novice who is looking to get past sometimes im- least-used words are likely to be the ones that are also the least penetrable geologic jargon, as well as to the professional whose understood. The Glossary incorporates over 5300 mineral names interdisciplinary research may require an understanding of fields (including chemical formulas), acronyms, colloquial, local, outside of his or her specialty. It should be on the bookshelf and regional terms, anatomic terms used in paleontology, terms of every professional geoscientist and geologically minded related to petroleum and mining, and almost any other word or layperson alike. phrase you can think of that relates in some way to geology. Al- John W. Counts most because there is a notable omission; many terms that have Department of Geology gained wide acceptance in the field of ichnology have been left University of Kansas out. Words like softground, hyporelief, and xenoglyph are famil- Lawrence, KS 66045 USA iar to most trace-fossil workers but are strangely excluded. Also [email protected]